Everything Is Up

Taking the Fass Track Forward with Rose Fass

Episode Notes

In episode 41 of Everything is Up, Tammera Hollerich interviews Rose Fass, a successful entrepreneur, as they discuss the challenges of connecting with others in a remote work environment and the leadership gap that exists in today's turbulent world. Rose also shares valuable insights on finding purpose and truth amidst the chaos. 

Tune in to learn more about Rose's experiences and the valuable lessons she learned along the way.

TIMESTAMPS

[00:05:30] Women Overcoming Obstacles.

[00:10:39] Learning From Failures and Successes.

[00:14:55] Starting a Business Transformation.

[00:17:59] Starting a New Company.

[00:21:36] The Chocolate Conversation.

[00:26:24] Changing the Standard for Innovation.

[00:29:47] Impact of Remote Work.

[00:39:33] Rose Fass's New Book.

In this episode, Tammera Hollerich and Rose Fass delve into the dynamics of leadership within conversations. They emphasize the significance of listening over speaking, understanding over seeking to be understood, and enlisting over telling. They underscore the detrimental effects of such exchanges and assert that effective leadership necessitates intelligent and empathetic communication.

Additionally, Tammera and Rose tap into the concept of a hybrid work environment, where remote work is embraced, and on-site work is reserved for specific purposes. They mention that many young people have realized during the pandemic that working remotely can enhance their quality of life compared to daily commutes. 

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Tammera Hollerich

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TammeraHollerich

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammerahollerich/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thollerich/

Rose Fass

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rose.fass/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosefass/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fassrose/

WEBSITES

Everything Is Up: https://everything-is-up.simplecast.com/

Tammera Hollerich: https://tammerahollerich.com/

Fass Forward: https://www.fassforward.com/

Episode Transcription

Intro/Outro00:01 - 00:17
Welcome to everything is up a podcast about the real life stories of people who have created extraordinary levels of success These are conversations with people who are constantly striving to take things to the next level And now here's your host 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich00:21 - 00:33
Welcome to Everything is Up with Tamara. Joining me today is Rose Fass out of originally New York, right? But are you now living in Florida, Rose? 


 


 

Rose Fass00:33 - 00:39
Both places. We're living in New York and in Florida, but spending a lot more time in Florida. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich00:39 - 01:14
Weather's better. Weather's better. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So, Rose, thank you so much for joining us today. My goal here is to really give the audience the most interesting people I can find on the planet and those that have actually risen to the top in their field. So Rose, why don't you give us the quick three-minute elevator about Rose and then we're gonna talk about your books and some really cool stuff that you've been doing. 


 


 

Rose Fass01:15 - 04:59
Yeah, so I actually grew up in upstate New York. And in my senior year, my parents moved to Massachusetts, which put me in touch with Boston University. And that's where I went to school. And I started my career as on the executive training program at back Saks Fifth Avenue. And I kind of write about this in the book, because I had two female mentors. One was Miss Janet, and the other one was Nan Edelstein. And Nan Edelstein was a gypsy-like, floral skirts, these bangles, big earrings, totally creative, out of the box, accessories, Judith Lieber, Bottega bags, you know, she was amazing. And this Janet was buttoned up with, like, the little jab and the little collar and everything was with a pencil and the glasses were here and they were best friends, which was hysterical. I learned from Janet the long way home. how to take inventory, how to be organized, how to use process to help things get more efficient. And I learned from Nan Edelstein, how to think out of the box and how to look at life in a more creative lens. And I owe a lot to those two women as being my first two real mentors. And that led me to wanting to kind of move out of retail and go into wholesale. So I ended up getting into the cosmetic business. And I started working for a gentleman who was launching Mary Quant in this country. And Mary Quant was the originator of the miniskirt. She also made pantyhose, thank you very much. And she had this cosmetic line. And so we launched this cosmetic line in the US and we were on Fifth Avenue, big couch that looked like a lipstick. And I started out as a salesperson and then I went and became the regional manager for the Northeast. And I later became the national sales manager. And Jack Winters, God rest his soul, was my third mentor. And he basically wanted to move out of the cosmetic department and into boutiques and sell cosmetics as an accessory. So we had jeepers peepers for eyeshadows, you know, sunglasses to match. It was a crazy time. And Mary Quant recently passed away, actually, and was lauded for all of her innovative ways of being in the world. But that was a great run. And from there, I got my first corporate job, which was with Xerox. And they were hiring women for the first time. And they wanted to hire women on a fast track and put them in management. And I couldn't imagine moving away from fashion to technology. But that kind of set the stage for the rest of my career. And we can talk more about that whenever you want to. But that was basically a couple things I learned from from Jack, there's two times you can afford to take a risk. when you've got everything to lose and you've got nothing to lose. And I have found myself in those positions very often. The other thing was in a good negotiation, after everything's been said, the first one who talks loses. I've kept these little gems, they're in the book, I've kept them throughout my career. So anyway, that's my elevator pitch for how I ended up at Xerox and then ultimately starting my own business 23 years later. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich05:01 - 06:14
You know, that's interesting, because when, when I get that opportunity to talk with these high achievers, and Rose, you have been featured as fortune's most powerful women, which was recent here in like 22, right? Right. And entrepreneur 100 women of influence in Westchester. I mean, we are talking about extremely accomplished. I find that And those of us that are women who are, you know, in this, this crazy world, you know, making it. We have a story that we actually have done what it takes to get here. Nobody nobody's given us. I think a lot of times when we see that success, somebody thinks, as awful as this is about to sound, it still is somewhat, I think, the mentality that we maybe slipped our way to the top or we got lucky or something. But the truth is, we put in our dues. We have done what it takes. Would you agree? 


 


 

Rose Fass06:14 - 06:28
Absolutely. And let's face it, there is the other. And it unfortunately shadows, you know, a lot of what we've done. Many of those women, you know, I'm going to be 75 in April. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich06:28 - 06:35
Wow, you do not look it. Like for those of you guys who can't see us and are just listening, she is beautiful and looks like she's about 45. 


 


 

Rose Fass06:38 - 10:39
That's very nice of you to say. But I will say that early days, some women just got trapped in it. I mean, I was watching that Fox program, you know, the movie that came out about all of the women that were unfortunately exploited on those big media channels. And many of them didn't think they had choices. And we've all been through the sort of unsavory kind of guy that comes along and thinks that not only did he give you a job, but he bought the dress. And that's not something that, you know, every woman has the courage to walk away from. I think today it's a lot different. I think for me, I grew up the second, first generation of Italian immigrants. My parents went through a depression. They were modest in terms of what they owned and earned. And my brothers and I kind of grew up. having to make it on our own you know with our parents of course being wonderful parents but we had to do a lot to achieve what we got to achieve whether it was paying our own way through school or whatever and I think we learned a lot of work ethic from those parents that came from the depression. My father was a world war ii marine in the aviator division uh tail gunner and he was conversant all the romance languages and he was a published poet which was an I learned a lot from him. I learned a lot from my mother who could probably do more over a cup of tea than most top executive coaches today. There's just an extraordinary gift in having grown up in those times. So I know we all think our times are special. But I didn't grow up a big piece of stuff. I grew up an ordinary Italian American girl, East Utica, New York, and got to where I got to much by happenstance, falling into things, meeting certain people. This last gentleman at Mary Quant was a real mentor. He was a Jewish guy. His mother was a really strong hat milliner, and she was the force in his family. So he had a lot of respect for women. I was fortunate. When I got to Xerox, it was tough because we were token to most of the men that were there and we had to learn how to navigate. I remember my first operations review, I was in the job for 39 days and I was 29 percent of plan. All the good stuff was taken out of my territory and given to my peer who was a guy that the branch manager loved. And I stood up in front of them and they said, tell us what kind of talent it takes to be 29% of plan. And I was so embarrassed and I had literally a little over a month in the job. And I remembered Jack saying there's two times you can be strong. And when you got nothing to lose, you got everything to lose. And I was in that position. Yeah, I thought about my dad who would tell me don't sweat, be direct, lower your voice. So I looked at them. And I said, Well, if I were 229% of plan, after being in the job 30 days, would you attribute that to my expertise? And they just kind of it leveled the playing field. And one of the guys said she got a point. And so I said, Would you like to hear what I'm thinking about doing to turn this thing around? Yes. And then it flowed from there. Tough times, challenging times, but I learned a lot. And I learned more from failures than I did from successes, to be honest. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich10:39 - 11:42
I was literally just sitting here thinking that is a fail forward. Just kind of pushing yourself forward and no fear, right? Not being afraid and pushing yourself forward. There are more and more executives, very successful people that literally have said that very same thing. They failed. more than they succeeded, but that failure was a learning opportunity and moved that needle further than if they had been successful. and moving the needle that way, because they learn so much more and could make so many more, they would have made different decisions the next time, so just faster. Yeah, so I think that's cool. So when you left Xerox, at that point, is that when you decided you were gonna go into executive coaching and you were going to have your own business at that point? 


 


 

Rose Fass11:42 - 16:16
No, what was interesting is my last couple of years at Xerox, Ann Mulcahy had become the chief of staff and then later went into being the chief operating officer and then got, you know, as the CEO. I was a region president at that time with full P&L, which is what I'd always been accustomed to. And she called me up and she said, I need you to come over and help us with our 2000 transformation. This was in 1993. No one even knew the word at that point in time. It was just not a popular word. So she said, and we have to figure out what this word empowerment means. So I ended up coming over to corporate kicking and screaming because it was the last thing I wanted to do. And I had people coming up to me that knew me for a while that were big jobs that were like, what is a chief transformation officer and making fun, you know? Yeah. So I would tease and say, well, I guess if you don't change, you're under arrest. That actually became the genesis for what Fast Forward became because I did a lot of counseling and executive advisory to many of the businesses around the year 2000 and how we would make these changes. Bill McDermott, who is the CEO of ServiceNow today, who I was on the team that hired him into Xerox, was with me at the time. We had been working at Xerox for many years. He's always on news channels now, he's very popular. A wonderful guy, totally a people person. He had left early in his career and went to Gartner for one year and then for a couple of months and then came back. And I got this call about going to Gartner. And this was after many of the senior executives at Xerox had literally the SCC come in and find things that were not good. And Anne paid their fines and in return they made her the CEO, deservingly so, but they did. And I decided this was no longer the place I wanted to hang my hat. So I got a call from Gartner and I called Bill and I said, you know, I'm doing this interview at Gartner. They're interested in a transformation But you went there a long time ago. And I said, you didn't love it. So should I go? And he said, the answer is yes. And call me on Tuesday. Why Tuesday? He said, I can't talk about it now. Call me on Tuesday. So I call him on Tuesday. And I find out that he's just been named president at Gartner. So the two of us go over there. And we do our whole thing. And unfortunately, we were working for a CEO at the time that had signed a convertible note for the market cap of the company. without a floor. So he made a lot of unfortunate decisions that strategically made no sense. At the end of which the venture capitalist came in and it was over. Yeah. So if Bill and I were leaving, and he went to at the time Siebel systems, I didn't want to move to the West Coast. And I decided to start fast forward. And I said, Why can't I just take this whole template for business transformation? and bring it into the company. And my first gig was with Estee Lauder, my old stomping grounds in cosmetics, they were acquiring Mac, and they were trying to figure out the integration. And that was literally the beginning. It's in the first book and the chocolate conversation of my branching out, I was scared to death. I took a classically trained engineer, Gavin McMahon, who had also had to leave the company, called him in London. He's a Brit. And I said, this was twenty two years ago. And I said, would you like to have lunch? And he said, sure. Is there some, I said, well, I'm thinking that you and I should talk about a business I want to get started on. And he was kind of shocked and we sat down and he said, can you do this? And I said, yes, I've got one account we can start with and then we can grow from there. And there's a lot of crazy stories along the way that I won't bore you with, but it was a challenge. But here we are 23 years later, and we have a lot of phenomenal accounts that we are doing business transformations on behalf of. That we are providing executive advisory services, a lot of custom workshops, a lot of things that we do. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich16:16 - 16:36
That's exciting. So fast forward is actually the name of Rose's company and Rose. You said 20, it's 23 years now, right? That you have had fast forward going. I just want to make sure that everybody understands that that's the name of the company. We're not moving fast forward. 


 


 

Rose Fass16:36 - 19:22
Yeah. The interesting part is the day that I left Gardner. was the first day I found myself unemployed in my entire existence since I was 15 years old. And I remember getting in my husband's car and we had a trip planned out to East Hampton to visit friends. And I was in a really weird mood. And on the way, I was stopping off at Lauder because we had done some work with them at Gartner. And I went in and I was talking to the assistant head of research, Shahan Nazar, a fabulous man. And I said to him, you know, would you like to continue? He said, absolutely. He said, we just acquired Mac and Bobby Brown and all these young lines. And Estee was a very older established line. And he said, we're not integrating well with cultures. And that was my gig. So my first, literally July 21st, 2001, my husband's sitting in the parking lot in the car, and I'm in front of Siobhan. no job, no name of the company, no nothing. Gavin is now in Texas with his wife trying to get his residency and green card and I'm there. So I said to him, great, when would you like to start? He said, can you start like in a couple of weeks? And our fiscal ends in July. And I said, absolutely, no problem. So he says what would it take for us to get started and I said a hundred thousand dollar retainer and then we can go from there I mean I just threw it out and he said well can we do 100 Canadian which was 70 US at the time and I said okay and he said I'll give you the other 30 in the new fiscal I said no problem so he said Should I, are you going to send me an invoice from Gartner? And I said, well, no, I'm no longer with Gartner. You left your job? And I said to him, well, I've left the company, still doing the same job. We have a new company and my partner's in Texas right now. He's a Brit. You won't be disappointed, Sean. He goes, well, what's the name of your new company? I said, it's going to be a surprise. At that point, I didn't know. So we had gotten in the car and we were going to get in the car and lunch and I had to walk over my husband is sort of like not a guy that sits around. So I went over there and I said, Ron, I'm so sorry, but he wants to go to lunch. Can you like go to the diner and then we'll go out to East Hampton and he said to me, I will go to the diner. I do not want you to worry. I'll be right here waiting for you whenever you're ready to go. And I remember tearing up in that moment because I knew he had my back. We're now married 46 years. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich19:22 - 19:28
I was gonna say, I think I read you were married 46 years. So he's got to be a keeper. 


 


 

Rose Fass19:28 - 21:19
Yeah, he's a keeper. So we got back in and we went to the lunch and worked it all out. And I remember going out to East Hampton and we had tried for many names and we couldn't get them any fast name I wanted to do. Fast track fast lane, they were all taken. And I had a real rumbly accountant with a kind of an edge to him, older guy and a lawyer. And my husband liked him a lot. He was very Jewish, my husband's Jewish, and the two of them would give it says they say, but that night, I went to sleep tomorrow. And I was walking on a path with lots of debris. And I was trying to clear my way. And this image came up behind me. It was like a shadow image. And it's a come on, fast forward. And I got up in the middle of the night, wrote it with a lipstick pencil. And I said to my husband, we have to go home tomorrow. We're not going to stay the weekend. I said, No, I need to get started. And I want to call Stanley and I want to give him the name. So we had a day with our friends. And then we explained that we just had to get going. So I got in the car, we were driving home calling Stanley and he's screaming on the phone. I don't want any more of these fast names. And so I just handed the Bluetooth over to Ron and I said, you deal with him. I can't cope with this. He goes, Stanley, file the name. If it doesn't work, we'll deal with it. He goes, well, I don't want to hear about your wife's dreams. And so he goes, her dreams are as important to her as they are to me. Just make it happen. So that Tuesday, the following Tuesday, he was shot, but the name was available. So we captured all the websites, we escort and our first gig was Estee Lauder. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich21:19 - 21:42
Yeah, that's that's a phenomenal story. And, you know, that's why I love having such interesting people on this podcast. And so, Rose, you have since written several books. The first one, your Chocolate Conversation, is that the first one? 


 


 

Rose Fass21:42 - 21:51
That was your first one. And actually only two books. The second book recently released is the Leadership Conversation. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich21:51 - 22:05
So talk to us, give us the Chocolate Conversation. How did you come up with the name of the book, The Chocolate Conversation? Because I think it's fabulous. And then How long between the first and the second book? 


 


 

Rose Fass22:05 - 25:28
Okay. So the chocolate conversation was a creative moment to be honest with you. I had in my last year at BU been invited to a BYC party. Bring your own chocolate. And I was particularly excited about it because I didn't love, I wasn't a big drinker, and the BYOBs always turned into, you know, wild and crazy. So I thought, this is great. Chocolate fans, you know? So I made my killer chocolate cake. I was living in an apartment at the time. And I thought I was going to be the hit of the party. And I got there and it was like, not even close, okay? The stuff that was on that table, I mean, artistically alone, was amazing. So we were walking around and I was with this guy and he said to me, you know, I'm not a chocolate snob, are you? And I said, not really, I just like it. And he goes to me, I like the Snickers bar. And so this woman who literally would have to run around the shower twice to get wet, this then, you know how you love that type. So she walks over and she goes, Snickers, excuse me. I want a certain amount of cake and she's going through the percentages and this and that cocoa butter and we're like looking at each other. So the end of which I realized that we had something in common at a very high level, which was we all love chocolate. But when we got into people's standards, it really was uniquely different. And then this woman's in expressing a major concern for the two of us little pedestrians that would be happy with a peanut butter cup or a Snickers bar, M&Ms, you know? So years later, I am sitting in an all company meeting at Xerox. I'm now, you know, in a very big job and they're setting out the strategy for 2000. And literally everybody went back with a different interpretation. And the CEO got furious, brought everybody back. And I realized in that moment, oh my god, the chocolate party came into my mind. I said, we're having a chocolate conversation. Fast forward the clock, no pun intended. I'm now at MasterCard in my second gig. Now I've got Estee Lauder, we're working with Interpublic Group of Companies and MasterCard, and they're trying to integrate two major factions of the corporation. And I realize they're having all these chocolate conversations. And it was at that point that I said to everyone in the group, if I say the word chocolate, what's the first thing that comes into your mind? And I thought about the party. Somebody said strawberries. Another person said Haagen-Dazs. Another person said cake. One person said holly berry. Another person said, my chocolate laboratory retriever. And I put these all up on the wall and I said, so at the worldview level, we all get chocolate. But when we get to the standard, we all have very different views. And they were like amazed at this. And I said, so guys, when you think of a complex strategy, how much chocolate do you think happens there? How many meltdowns go on? How many misinterpretations? The very long and short story here is that that became the impetus for me writing the book. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich25:28 - 25:49
Yeah I can see that. Yeah so as you so then what actually um Why did you write the second one? I mean, one book is hard to do. Two is harder. I mean, they're time consuming. And, you know, so why did you write the second one? 


 


 

Rose Fass25:49 - 28:56
I've asked myself that several times. I think it was about eight years later, I was going to do a sequel, because chocolate had done very, very well. And everybody would use it in corporations as a way of dealing with miscommunication. Oh, we're having a chocolate conversation. And they would and we built a whole framework around how to uncouple them, how to start with the concern rather than the worldview, you know, a lot of unique things. And a very good example, I said to people, Steven Jobs, determined at a time when a world was extremely unhappy how people needed to be entertained and he came out with the idea of a thousand songs in your pocket you and i did not go to bed at night thinking that we were going to lose any sleep over not having a thousand songs in our pocket right but he dealt with a real concern a global concern He established a completely new standard for listening to music. Sony should have had that innovation. Apple got it instead. And he built the iPod. And from there, he established and changed the whole worldview. So it gave me the impetus for thinking that to successfully uncouple any chocolate conversation, leaders needed to have conversations around the concern they were solving for. the standard that they had in mind, which needed to be visible, to then allow people to shift and change their worldview. Because when you start at the worldview level, and we see it right now going on with the Israeli Hamas war, when you start with a worldview, you have factions and people all angry at each other and no one able to come to grips with any common ground but when you deal with the concern that changes that shifts and people are able to start to think about okay let's think about this differently so now we're dealing with hostages and you know a whole different realm difference yeah i'm just going to mute this for one minute I'm getting over this sinus infection. So the second book became, it was meant to be a sequel to the chocolate conversation. And my partners at the time said, can't you just write a new book? And I'm like, Oh, yeah. But I decided to write about the leadership conversation. Bill McDermott wrote the forward of my first book. And he said, Rose understands how to make bold change one conversation at a time. And I thought the job of every leader is to change the conversation. And so I had the idea of a leadership conversation, make bold change 1 conversation at a time. And I began writing the 2nd book. There are elements of the 1st book in the 2nd book, but that's what that's how it all came about. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich28:57 - 29:47
I was gonna say, well, that just ties them together and kind of gives the perspective, right, for that, the conversation from the leadership standpoint. So, you know, do you think that, you know, post COVID or even during COVID, when we have this hybrid work thing going on, it's very, very different than it was, let's say, you know, 10 years ago. Do you think that that environment has had any impact on leaders' engagement in conversations? Because I kind of feel like with, even Carleen, who's my assistant, is remote and in Kansas and I'm in Dallas, and even our, it's difficult to have those conversations. Do you think that that has kind of impacted the way leaders have to converse? 


 


 

Rose Fass29:47 - 32:28
Dramatically. And if ever there was a time for this book to be released, it was written during the pandemic and it's post pandemic. The ability to connect with others is difficult at best when you're in the same place. When you're working remotely, it gets even more challenging. And the conversation is different, Mara. The conversation is very different. Today, whether we like it or not, I just did a panel on this, there's a leadership gap in that people are wanting what is going on on the public stage to somehow be rationalized in the workplace. help me to understand where do I go to be safe? Where do I go to hear the truth? Where do I go to have purpose in my life when the world is so turbulent, where every time I turn on the news, I'm faced with what's not working? Is there any place that is working? At the same time, my young nieces nephews, they want to work remotely. They figured out during the pandemic the quality of life they could have as a remote worker versus commuting into an office every day. The hybrid environment invites people to come to an office when there's a reason for it and to have an on-site versus what we used to refer to as an off-site. These conversations with our employees and with staff and anyone else we deal with are critical how we have them. Leaders in my day didn't have to wear that mantle of also being able to explain the global stage or the chaos in the world and give people a sense that what they're doing makes a difference. Because the best and last value added space right now is business. People have the ability to change the conversation. Qatar, a country the size of Connecticut. is negotiating these factions and getting terrorists to talk with populations, to talk with Israeli government. Amazing. Okay. And what are they doing? He's facilitating a leadership conversation to say, we have to do some things differently here. And the outcome of this is still yet to be seen. But we are witnessing this every day and leaders have to be able to speak intelligently and empathetically around these things. And if they can't, they lose the ground. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich32:28 - 32:38
OK, so that brings me to this question. How does leadership happen in a conversation? Or not. Or not. 


 


 

Rose Fass32:38 - 33:45
Yes. So the way leadership happens in a conversation is when you listen more than you speak. when you understand more than you seek to be understood, when you do less telling, and you do more enlisting. And you can have the kind of conversation that allows multiple points of view to exist in a complimentary fashion rather than a conflicted fashion. Look for the compliment, not the conflict. So I go back to Qatar. Yeah. Okay. How do I facilitate dialogue that is not explosive? So everything that's going on right now is happening in the conversation. Good and bad. conversations that steamboat, that ignite, that cause people to shut down each other's conversations. That's how leadership is not happening in the conversation. And we are privy to it every night on every news channel. Every news channel. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich33:45 - 34:37
Yeah. Yeah. No, that's true. So, you know, this has been like so enlightening. I sit in a leadership role, you know, I have a company and I've got employees. And so as you, that's what made me so interested in having you on the podcast. I was like, this is just phenomenal. And we have a mutual friend, Alison DePauly, who has also been on the podcast. And I, you know, both of us, you and I both adore her to no end. So she was the one who said, Tamara, you really like you have got to meet Rose, you're gonna love her. So I was like super excited to be able to have you. I did a little bit of off digging to see if I could learn some other new things about you. You like to sing, don't you? I do. And you like to sing jazz. 


 


 

Rose Fass34:38 - 34:40
Blues, mostly. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich34:40 - 34:57
Blues, mostly. So one of the things that I love to do, and it's just fun, just some fun stuff, is I love to do some trivia. And I thought it might be fun if we did some trivia on the blues. Are you up for that? 


 


 

Rose Fass34:57 - 35:01
Well, it would depend because I'm pretty dated. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich35:01 - 35:15
You're dated? Well, I think this first question that I have for you, I think you will get. So, this question is who is often referred to as the king of blues. 


 


 

Rose Fass35:15 - 35:26
I am going I'm having a senior moment and I see his face. Oh, my God. Black guy. Yeah. I'm sorry, I'm having a senior moment. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich35:26 - 35:45
No, so it's BB King and I said it, you would go. Yes, saw the image. Yeah, so fun. The city that is often most considered the birthplace of the blues known for its rich musical history and connection to legendary blues artists. 


 


 

Rose Fass35:46 - 35:50
New Orleans and also Chicago, Chicago and Memphis. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich35:50 - 35:52
So all three of them. 


 


 

Rose Fass35:52 - 36:08
Memphis was much more of a gospel kind of blues. Chicago was the Lou Rawls. Yes. Oh, it's stormy Monday and Tuesday's just the same. And then New Orleans, which is you know, when they in the court, they have tremendous blues. Yeah. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich36:08 - 36:25
Oh, it's phenomenal. I was in New Orleans in January and got I was like, I'm walking down to the French Quarter in all by myself, but I had to go. Oh, it's just like, nonstop. It doesn't matter what time day. 


 


 

Rose Fass36:26 - 36:28
I know it is. It's a lot like the city. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich36:28 - 36:45
It's pretty awesome. So which blues harmonica player, known for his distinctive wailing sound, was a key figure in the Chicago blues and often collaborated with Muddy Waters? 


 


 

Rose Fass36:45 - 36:53
Muddy Waters. Oh, my God. Again, I'm like having a senior moment. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich36:53 - 36:54
This one is Little Walter. 


 


 

Rose Fass36:56 - 36:59
Well, that to be honest w come right to mind. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich36:59 - 37:02
Yeah, a lot of fun when I heard blues, I was like, I'm gon 


 


 

Rose Fass37:10 - 39:00
The village gate and the cookery were the two places in the city where everybody went for, you know, and the Blue Note. My best friend was a jazz pianist. But Alberta Hunter, I don't know if you remember Alberta Hunter. I do. 80 years of age in 1977, she did a comeback at the cookery. And I brought a bunch of people there. And I was 27 years old. Wow. And she was so much older. She was in her literally 80s, walked out on the stage, could barely snap her fingers, just like this. And you can look Google this Alberta hunters, it was a $5 cover charge. And she had a very old man behind her. She had become a nurse in between being a blues singer when she was young and this return. And she said, you know, what's all about healing. I was healing when I was a nurse, and I was healing when I was singing the blues. And then she went through this gyration trying to snap her fingers. And my husband looked at me and said, we should never have brought company here. my God, this woman's gonna fall flat on the stage. And we're going to be carrying her out in a stretcher. And she turned around, she said, Ready, boys? And they were like, Yes. And then the next thing you know, from the floor up tomorrow. Love me. And lock me in your arms, so sweet. It was absolutely mind-blowing. The rest of the evening, everybody was mesmerized. We were all standing up, 80 years old. Such a tremendous inspiration. And she sang with all of them, Joey Williams, you know, every one of the big stars. So it was like, that's why I said I'm dated. I'm much more old blues than I am the current stuff that's out today. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich39:00 - 39:04
But you know what? I think it's the old blues that have the soul. 


 


 

Rose Fass39:04 - 39:08
I think it's like B.B. King, all of those. Yeah. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich39:09 - 40:10
I think just just all the way and what inspiration. I mean, they were just incredible. Yeah, it's fabulous. And so I was like, what an inspiration. And what I mean, you guys, we just got to hear Rose Fass just sing the blues for us right here on everything is up. So, well, Rose, I literally have Really, I have worn out my welcome with you, but I just could not just shut us down. You have been so delightful and informative and probably so interesting. I cannot wait to get a copy of your new book. I'm very excited. The Leadership Conversation by Rose Fass. Rose tell can you please tell my audience the best way for them to get in touch with you just to be able to reach out how we can get your book best place for us to get your book. 


 


 

Rose Fass40:12 - 40:51
Yeah, and they can go on LinkedIn. I'm there on LinkedIn, Rose Fast. And at our website, if you go to fast forward, you know, www.com, fastforward.com, you can access it's on Amazon, it's on, you can order it direct from us, or you can order it from, you know, other bookstores, but it's available to you on Amazon. And If you want to get in touch with me, you just ping me on LinkedIn and we'll get back to you. Fabulous. And by the name, it's Rose Fass. It's with a soft A, Fass. That's how Fast Forward came about. Fast Forward. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich40:51 - 41:16
And it's F-A-S-S as in Sam Sam. Yes. There's no T. So it's just F-T. It's a play on the name. It's a play on. I love it. The creativity. I mean, and I love that it came to you the way that it did in a dream, because I think we are spoken to on a daily basis with the direction we are supposed to be going. I just don't think we listen as often as we should. 


 


 

Rose Fass41:18 - 41:21
It's been a pleasure talking with you too and I wish you the very best. 


 


 

Tammera Hollerich41:21 - 41:46
Well, thank you, Rose. Everyone, this is Tamara and Rose Fast with Everything is Up. Make sure you guys share, like, make sure you guys order Rose's book and if you guys need or have questions, please reach out to Rose on LinkedIn. Thanks again, Rose. I really have enjoyed our conversation today and best of luck with the book. Good luck and God bless. 


 


 

Rose Fass41:46 - 41:49
You too. Thank you so very much. 


 


 

Intro/Outro41:49 - 42:01
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